It is now becoming a more common practice for mothers to feed their infants in public. Changing life styles have meant that there is now a greater need (or at least preference) for women on the go to feed their infants in public. Whether socialising, shopping, travelling or even in business, more and more women find it necessary to feed their infants as and when required. No longer are infants forced to a particular feeding regime as was fashionable in the past, most mothers adopting the practice of feeding on demand. This means that babies who want to be fed, have to be fed then and there under whatever circumstances prevail.
Although there are sometimes limited facilities available for doing this, such as change rooms and so on in shopping complexes or rest rooms in restaurants and diners etc, most women would generally prefer to feed their infants in the company of their friends or family or generally do so in the environment they find themselves, rather than feeling they have to secret themselves away in some back room like a social outcast.
However, there remains to a large extent a stigma against breast feeding in public. This comes to some extent from the older generation unaccustomed to such activity in public. Although changing fashions have meant a relaxation in certain standards, including the acceptance of topless bathing at the beach, the problem remains that overt exposure of the female breast elsewhere can offend certain sectors of the public, even if only for the otherwise natural function of breast feeding. Coupled with the undesirable attention that this may also cause in certain situations or with certain individuals, most women generally feel some degree of self-consciousness or embarrassment in exposing themselves, even if only momentarily whilst placing an infant on their nipple. This is of course exacerbated to some extent by the need to partially undo or remove at least a portion of the garments the mother is wearing. Even though the infant, when once on the nipple, affords some general “protection” as far as further exposure of the breast is concerned, this can be readily broken by the infant suddenly pulling away leaving the mother more exposed than she had intended or would have wished.
Add to this, the particular bonding which takes place between mother and child during breast feeding, one can easily appreciate that even those who might otherwise feel comfortable with perhaps more explicit exposure for example at the beach, would by and large prefer some degree of privacy, or at least a more discrete situation, when feeding their infant.
There are also situations when it would be desirable to provide some sort of protection for the infant as well. This would also extend to bottle feeding as well as breast feeding. For example protection from the elements, including sun and wind and perhaps even a light shower of rain, would be desirable for the infant being fed. Such protection is also relevant when considering the mother herself, who in situations where the weather is colder for example, may find that she is disadvantaged by having to partially expose more of herself than the she would prefer given the prevailing weather.
Other difficulties also arise when one considers the various aspects of feeding an infant, not the least of which is the need to juggle various implements, whilst holding the baby and fiddling with clothing etc, including in the case of bottle feeding, the bottle itself, and in the case of breast feeding, say a nursing pad.
It would therefore be useful to provide a suitable cover which could be used by mothers when breast feeding an infant, so that they can accomplish that in a more discrete manner, and which would also be suitable in providing protection to the infant (or mother) from exposure to the elements during either breast feeding or bottle feeding. It would also be useful if such cover also provided additional features such as a suitable pocket or pockets to accommodate for example one or more nursing pads, so that they are on hand when most needed.